3 Good Reasons to Digital Scrapbook

By Julie Gazaway

Lately there has been more and more attention drawn to digitally scrapbooking instead of scrapbooking the traditional way. There are many reasons why you might want to swap over, if you haven't already, here are 3.

1. Time - If you've ever scrapbooked, you know there is some time involved. First, you have to edit and print your pictures. Once they're printed, you have to find and purchase the products youll use on your scrapbook pages. That can take some time, although, many of us quite enjoy this part! Next, you have to set everything out, design your pages, cut, glue, print, measure, tape and the list goes on and on. Then, you get to clean it all up! And if youre like most people, you may only have a couple hours, here and there, to work on it, and you most likely dont have a room dedicated to scrapbooking. So, that means that out of that little time slot, you spend a lot of time setting, and cleaning up.

Now, let's compare that to digital scrapbooking! You hop on your computer, surf the web for products you want to use and purchase, and immediately have them in your possession through downloads! Next, you add them into your digital scrapbooking program, and you're ready to go. You add you're pictures as you need them, so no need to edit and print before hand! And when you're done, you walk away from the computer! You're clean up time goes from minutes, to a couple seconds! Now that small time slot you had to scrapbook has been used to the max!

2. Convenience - Take a second and think back to the last time you scrapbooked the traditional way. Were you sitting at a table covered in products? Plus I'm sure there was a box of photos and countless supplies included in that mess. I would always get so consumed by the mess; I had a really hard time being creative!

Now, let's compare that to digital scrapbooking. You can digital scrapbook anywhere you can use youre computer! Imagine taking youre laptop outside, or on a plane and scrapbooking! Since there's no mess involved, it becomes a lot more convenient!

3. Money - This is the main reason I switched to digital scrapbooking. I have commitment issues! I would work on a page and love it! Then days later, I would pull it out, and think, "Thats horrible!" "I hate it!" "What was I thinking?" So, I would throw it out, and start over. I couldn't commit on a theme for a page, let alone an entire scrapbook. Every day I would change my mind, and more money would end up in the trash. So, I started creating my layouts on my computer to save me time and money. I found I liked it a lot better, because if I came back a couple days later and hated it, I could hit delete and be out nothing, except my time. Then I began comparing the cost of having a scrapbook published vs. creating a traditional scrapbook. Here is a brief rundown of my findings:

Traditional (20 page album) $0.50 in photo prints (that's an average of $0.17 per picture and 3 pictures per page) $5 in sheet protectors (a box of 20 costs $10, and youd only use 10 protectors) $15 photo album (that's really good " most cost around $25-$30) $0.60 per background page (once again, that's really good, most cost more) $1.50 in embellishments & extra paper for framing photos (some pages more, some pages less) Average of $72 per album (stamps, glue, adhesives, cutters, scissors, punches... and mistakes not included!)

Digital (20 page album published in a hard bound 12x12 book) $7 (Optional purchase of digital scrapbooking products online) $44.00 for book publishing (Quote taken from Shutterfly.com on June 12, 2009) $11.99 Shipping & Handling Average of $62.99 per album. And remember, that album is bound in a hard bound book, where the pages aren't so thick they take a 2" binder. And you'll never have to worry about embellishments and photos coming off the pages.

So, as you can see, traditional scrapbooking costs more. And those prices are very low. Most products cost a lot more than what I quoted.

If this hasnt convinced you to make the switch, give it a try, I know you'll love it!

About the Author:

Julie is the owner of www.digitalscrapbookingmadesimple.com and has been a digital scrapbooker for 4 years. Her site is packed with free pattern templates for scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking backgrounds and embellishments, tips for digital scrapbooking, and much more!

Free Guitar Scales Charts: Learn Without Frustration

By Ed Oglesby

In other words, even if you are new to the world of guitar playing, even if you only recently have started taking guitar lessons, you might benefit from learning the funk-skunk technique. The funk-skunk technique consists of a player's right hand strumming the strings. While this is occurring, the left hand is muting, the net effect of this action is that all of the strings are not fretted or raked at the same time.

All the great guitarist have struggled at some point in learning to play the guitar. As far as guitar lessons for beginners there are different ways to go, such as a private instructor, signing up for classes at your local community center, self-teaching method with books and online lessons which I recommend because they're cheaper and flexible to a persons schedule. Whichever way you choose be sure to keep in mind there are no "play guitar like a pro in one hour" course. It takes lots of practice and dedication to become a good guitarist.

Once you have got an idea of the guitar players you should be listening to and watching, you will be able to go looking for bluegrass guitar tabs. With these you can learn picking patterns that you can apply to any songs you learn. You will also be able to pick up tabs for bluegrass fiddle tunes you can learn to play on the guitar, try any bluegrass forums you find, as well as tab archives.

Chances are though, you already have a guitar. It's the weapon of choice of the heart broken isn't it? You probably GOT a guitar because you were sad about something. Nothing like a six string box to pour your heart through. Something about the twang of the strings just tells you, yeah, I feel your pain.

Now to get onto more technical stuff, let us look at what a flatpick is and how to use it. A flatpick is made of tortoiseshell, plastic or nylon. If you want to learn to be a flatpicking guitar soloist, you will need to learn to use a thick pick. If you are like most guitar players you will be using a light to medium weight pick.

Through this overview you will be able to closely consider whether learning the funk-skunk technique might be a good course for you to pursue when it comes to learning guitar. Before you are provided with some direction on where you might be able to access funk-skunk lessons, you really should have at least a bit of a basic understanding of what this technique is all about. In this regard, the reality is that people who are proficient in playing guitar generally agree that they really do not know how the term funk-skunk itself developed.

When you are choosing your repertoire, you can spread your net wide. No need to stick to the Top Forty, go for the Top One Hundred of whatever decade you feel comfortable with. An easy way out that does not need too much research is to just jot down a bunch of Beatles titles.

Using backing tracks you will be always playing in time and you will find that you are looking forward to your guitar practice because you enjoy playing with a band in your bedroom. When you have obtained some backing tracks to help you with your guitar practice, start using them right away. And if you find after a week or so that you are beginning to practice without using your backing tracks, make an effort to go back to using them.

About the Author:

Limited time only! Get unheard of deals on learn guitar chords before supplies run out. Visit free guitar scales charts today!

Blues Guitar Lessons DVDs: Don't Get Stucke While You're Paying For Lessons

By Frank Sypniewski

As a beginner learning to play the guitar can seem like a pretty steep hill to climb. There are notes and chords to learn and correct finger placement and technique to establish. Don't be discouraged to quickly by letting these things get you frustrated.

Before you get a teacher, remember that you are going to give this person your time and more importantly, your money. So make sure the teacher is a good one before you invest. Go online, see if you can find any write-ups on them, check the papers, ask around, talk to friends. But make sure the teacher is a good one and has a good reputation. Your teacher should be patient, understanding and above all else, professional!

Don't get frustrated at this point. Take a deep breath and take comfort in that you have made the first step in learning how to practice the guitar seriously. What is that first step? The first step is to...

Don't turn your guitar practice time into extended guitar solos. If you have a track of say, six minutes at your disposal, use it to practice licks and short solo breaks, the age of the twenty minute solo is long gone. Also, make use of your backing tracks to improve the basic aspects of your guitar playing like your timing.

These tips should help you get started, and if you're serious about taking some guitar lessons for beginners don't waste another second and check out this review for an award winning guitar course that I recommend. Another characteristic of Metal guitar is the use of drop tunings. If you play Metal your guitar should be tuned low. It gives you a totally different kind of control over your strings, your sound is more aggressive and you can do more with hammer-ons and tapping.

Dig down, dig deep, find your sadness. You can sing the blues. Blues Guitar Lessons have a golden rule: Get a GUITAR Blues accordion players just don't make it big you know? Ever heard of a blues cellist? Me neither.

These communities bring together a wide array of different types of guitar players, including people with different experience and ability levels. These environments often prove great grounds through which novices can learn more about guitar playing and more advanced players can improve their skills by assisting others. These sites can prove to be win-win venues all around.

Add your heartbreak to that guitar, you're on your way to sing the blues. Blues Guitar Lessons third rule: Learn the blues scales.Surprised this isn't the first rule? This is the technical side of things.

About the Author:

The gurus hate it when their personal secrets about learning guitar get exposed! Now they're fuming mad about this site blues guitar lessons dvd and trying to shut it down.